Paving Good Intentions
by BlackRosary
Summary: How do you accidentally ask out your brother's crush? I have no idea but somehow I managed it. Somehow a big misunderstanding can end up turning into something pretty good.
1. A Man Who Knows All the Answers

Any Man Who Knows All the Answers 

Disclaimer: I do not own the Darkest Powers Series or anything pertaining to it. Please do not sue because I have no money and it will disturb the ghosts that live in my wallet.

Author's Note: This is a story that has been rattling around in my head for some time. I wrote it a long time ago and just recently found it on one of my memory sticks. Not sure if I'm going to add more chapters or let it remain a oneshot. That all depends on the feedback I get. Anyways I hope you like it.

...

I glanced at my watch for what felt like the hundredth time as I leaned against Simon's locker. He was late...again. Another try on my cell phone ended with the same message.

"The number you are trying to reach is not available please leave a message after the beep."

I glared at my phone for a moment before shoving it deep in my pocket. Yet another crowd of obnoxiously perfumed girls walked by I heard whispers and giggles.

"How did he even, like, get in here?" One girl whispered to her friend. "Like don't you need talent or something? Really, it's like totally surreal."

"Shh he might hear you," Another hissed nervously. The others ignored her.

"I heard one of the teachers say he was in a _special _math class. You can totally tell he's remedial."

This sent the group into another fit of giggles as they turned the corner.

I hated this school. I mean I REALLY hated this school. Unlucky 13, if I believed in something like luck, AR Gurney School of the Arts located in Buffalo, New York. It was about as close to hell as a person could get without going underground.

I'm not an idiot, despite how I look, but my skills lie in the realm of logic, science and math. Things that actually require a brain. AR Gurney, being an Art school, had no use for such things. Unless you could sing, draw, or act most people here believed you had no place in this world.

Simon of course took to it like a fish to water, acting class, anime club, and everything in between. His only complaint was the lack of a basketball team and he got over that pretty fast when he got a look as some of the girls. If anything my brother was highly adaptable. Sure he would whine and complain at first but he always managed to fit in.

That was something I never really managed to do. With my hulking size and my unnatural strength I seemed to draw attention everywhere I went. Not to mention my razor sharp wit and sarcastic attitude. That didn't seem to be winning me any brownie points.

Also the fact I was a werewolf.

Not that anyone else really knew but Dad and Simon but sometimes I got the feeling that people just sensed it. That I was a predator, a monster.

Like what happened in Albany with that kid. I hadn't meant to hurt him and dad kept telling me it wasn't my fault. Still every time I think about how close I had come, if I had broken his spine instead of his collarbone. I could have killed him, or at least had him in a wheelchair for the rest of his life. It was just to close a call. Far too close.

Shaking my head to clear away my dark thought I checked my phone again. Still late and still no messages.

I was in the process of dialing Simon's number again when I heard a soft rustle of fabric behind me. Tensing I whirled around to face whoever though they could sneak up behind me. Instead of some muscle-bound jock bully like I was expecting I found a tiny blonde girl.

Apparently I had scared her though, because she made a small yipping sound and nearly jumped out of her skin. Clutching her chest she just stared at me with her big blue eyes. Not that I noticed or anything. Taking advantage of her attempts to restart her heart I looked her over.

She was blonde, but judging by the unnatural colour and extremely faint smell of chemicals the red streaks in her hair were dyed. Probably thought it made her look cool or something. She was short without real curves and at first glance seemed too young to be in a high school. Still she was there, with a school bag, and a jacket with the school logo sewn on the arm so chances were good that she went there.

What really threw me was the way she smelled. Unlike most girls her age she didn't smell like hairspray or gag-worthy perfume. There was only the faint smell of flowers from her hair and skin and a sharp mint scent from her lip balm. She wore the barest amount of black around her eyes and that was all. She was pretty, in a breakable sort of way.

She might have been in one of my classes. I never could keep track. I wasn't all that interested. Girls like her didn't go for guys like me. She would probably be Simon's type of girl though. He really had that 'hero saves the damsel in distress' problem.

Finally catching her breath blondie gave me a nervous smile.

"Wow you really surprised me there." She flushed and tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. "Hi I'm Chloe. You're Derek right? Simon's brother."

"Yeah." I grunted wanting to end this conversation quickly. At least she got my name right though unlike most people came asking about Simon. Which was pretty much the only reason I hadn't left yet.

"I have a question about the Winter Semi do you know where he is?"

I suppressed a growl. I knew what that question was.

"Yes, Simon is going."

Chloe blinked and her eyebrows wrinkled in a confused manner.

"I didn't ask—"

"I was taking the shortcut."

I knew I was being rude cutting her off. I didn't really care though. I was getting more than a little tired of girls bothering me to get to Simon. If they liked his so much they could go bother him.

Seeing Chloe gearing up to say something in response I decided to cut her off. A quicker end to the conversation I hoped.

"And before you ask, yes he is going with someone and no I don't know who."

To be honest I didn't know for sure if he was going with someone. Simon had been talking about asking some girl today. I forgot her name, But since no girl ever turned Simon down there was good chance he did indeed have a date.

My response seemed to surprise Chloe though and a small frown formed on her tiny face.

"He didn't mention that this morning."

I shrugged.

"Are you going too?" The question caught me off guard and I stared at her for a moment. "Well you said Simon's going so are you going too?"

At first I thought Chloe was making fun of me but she just continued to stare innocently. Unsure of what to say I just blinked. Seeing she wasn't going to leave until I gave her some sort of response I sighed and nodded.

Apparently accepting my nonverbal response Chloe smiled and continued talking.

"That's cool. Well anyways I need to talk to Simon about the dance. It's really important. Do you know where he might be?"

I stifled a snarl. This girl was persistent. Did she really think that just because she acted all innocent and friendly that I wouldn't figure out her ploy? Seriously, did I look like an idiot? Still it didn't look like this Chloe was going anywhere fast until I gave her the information she wanted.

Time to pull out the big guns.

"Look, I don't know where Simon is but I told you already he's got a date already." I paused for effect, "But you asked if I was going. I am, and I don't have a date yet, so if you're interested . . ."

I trailed off fully expecting her to head for the hills. Chloe on the other hand just blinked at me wide-eyed. A slow flush spread from the tips of her ears and across her nose and cheeks. She stood stuttering for a moment before she was able to string a sentence together.

"O-okay. Sure I'll go with you."

It was my turn to blink. That was not the response I had been expecting. Screams of terror? Totally expected. Running in fear? Par for the course. Actually agreeing? I had no plan for that.

Fortunately, or unfortunately depending on how you look at it, someone a ways down the hall called Chloe's name, distracting her. Quickly Chloe turned and waved before smiling at me.

"I'll meet you Friday at eight outside the gym okay? I'll be wearing a red dress."

With a small smile Chloe turned to walk away. She only made it about three steps before turning around again.

"Hey if you see your brother tell him to call me."

My inner wolf snarled. The female had chosen me as a potential mate so why was she still after the beta male? I immediately squashed the voice. It was a school dance not a proposal of marriage. Still I was a little ticked.

"I've been looking for him all day." She continued oblivious, "He was supposed to bring the banners the art club made for Semi to the gym but I guess he forgot. Please remind him if you see him."

And with that Chloe was off down the hall. Then it hit me. I knew where I had seen Chloe before. She was at that meeting for the Winter Semi-formal preparation. Decorating committee with ... Simon.

Now I felt like a bit of a jerk. She wasn't looking for a date she was trying to do her job. Whoops.

"WHAT?"

A loud shriek echoed through the hall. I turned to see Chloe and some other girl. Chloe appeared to be trying to quiet the other girl. For a normal person they would be too far away to hear but I was able to hear every word.

"Mattie, shut up." Chloe whispered. "Do you w-want him to hear you?"

"Are you out of your head?" The other girl, Mattie, hissed back. "What were you thinking when you agreed to go with him?"

"Well he's new and all. I know what it's like being the new kid and trying to make friends."

Mattie shook her head and placed her hands on her hips.

"The reason he has no friends," She drawled, "is because he is rude as hell with a scowl to match."

"You should know better than to judge a book by its cover." Chloe replied quietly, shooting a reproachful look at the other girl. "Just because he's huge doesn't mean he's a bad person."

I had to raise an eyebrow at this. If they thought I was scary now they should have seen me about six months ago before my acne and radioactive B.O. had decreased. Still with my long hair and baggy clothes, not to mention my size, I still look off putting.

"I wasn't talking about his looks and you know it." Mattie sighed and rubbed her forehead. "I'm just saying he's not going to win any Mr. Congeniality contests that's all."

Laughing she slung an arm over Chloe's shoulder.

"You are a better woman then I, Chloe Saunders, but someday it is going to get you into trouble."

The pair was still laughing as they turned the corner. Frowning I crossed my arms and leaned against the lockers. Well at least now I knew that Chloe hadn't agreed to go with me as a joke.

Suddenly my mind ground to a halt. I had just asked a girl I didn't even know to a dance. I hated dances. In fact I hated dancing. There wasn't even a way of getting out of it since I had asked HER. God Dad and Simon were never going to let me live it down.

As if on cue a small beep came from my phone. Flipping it open I found a text from Simon. It said he was in the Cafeteria. Not even bothering to respond I shoved the phone back into my pocket and headed to the Cafeteria.

I found him sitting at a table near the back. Surprisingly he was by himself. Cheerfully Simon waved me over.

"Hey bro, sorry for not meeting you at the lockers. The teacher asked for my help after class."

I shrugged.

Almost immediately Simon started into a rundown of his day. Sliding onto the bench beside him I nodded half-listening. Noticing a plate of fries sitting on the table I glanced at Simon. Shrugging he continued on with his story.

Making an executive decision I chose to remove the temptation and began to devour the offending potatoes. I had to make sure Simon was eating healthy.

"So this guy in my second period class was talking about asking this twelfth grader to Semi and I told him..."

At the word Semi I jerked up-right. The situation with Chloe flooding back. I guess I looked pretty surprised because Simon noticed immediately.

"What up bro? You look like you saw a ghost."

"Some girl named Chloe was looking for you." I mumbled.

"Oh Chloe." Immediately Simon's face brightened. "You remember her right? She was at the Semi meeting and she's in our creative writing class. She's the one I was talking about yesterday."

I felt a lump in the pit of my stomach. This conversation was heading in a direction I really didn't like.

"Yesterday?"

"Ya I was telling you about how I'm thinking of taking her to Semi." Simon chuckled. "Geez at least pretend to listen."

For a minute I couldn't think of anything to say. It was like my brain had come to a complete stop. What do you say to something like that? Suddenly Simon's cell phone went off. Flipping it up he read the message before gaping at the screen.

"She's going to Semi with someone else." Simon sputtered and slammed his phone down in disgust.

"Huh" The most intelligent response I could muster.

"Chloe," Simon stood up and started pacing, "somebody asked her to Semi first. Everyone knew I was going to ask her. Who would do that? Who?"

"Me?" The word came out before I could stop it.

For a moment there was silence. Simon just stared at me and I felt this surreal jolt run through me. Did I really just say that or did I imagine it?

All of a sudden Simon started laughing. No just normal laughing but body-shaking bone-rattling laughter. Gasping for breath he grabbed the table for support.

"You're kidding right?"

Silently I just stared at him. After a few minutes of trying to compose himself Simon collapsed back onto the bench. Finally subsiding into small chuckles. The look on my face must have shown how amusing I found the situation. Answer, not at all.

"So not you're kidding," As he started to chuckled again I gave Simon a withering look. "Okay how did it happen?"

I managed to get through the whole story with Simon only interrupting twice with his obnoxious laughter. By the time I had finished he had his head on the table and he was holding his sides. I guess he got a cramp from all that laughing. Good, I hope it hurt.

"So let me get this straight," Simon muttered breathlessly from his face-down position. "You asked the girl of my dreams out on a date...by accident?"

Blushing furiously I only managed a grunt in response.

"Wow, bro only you could pull off a move like that."

When Simon lifted his head off the table I was relieved to find him smiling.

"I can back out," I suggested, "then you can ask her instead."

Even as the words left my mouth Simon was shaking his head.

"Man, you have a lot to learn about girls."

I just stared at him blankly. It seemed like a perfectly reasonable plan to me. Simon on the other hand looked at me in a pitying way.

"You asked her to the dance," He pointed at me then himself, "I am your brother. If you ditch her there is no way in hell she would go to the dance with me. In fact I would be lucky if she ever even talked to me again. So, no that is a bad idea."

I spent the next half hour trying to come up with a plan to foist Chloe on my brother. Every single one was shot down. After he shot down the 26th idea I finally gave up and faced the music.

I was going to the Winter Semi-formal with Chloe Saunders whether I liked it or not.

...

There we go all finished. I hope that was okay, I'm never really confident writing male characters. Sorry for any spelling errors that is my greatest weakness. Anyways if you like it tell me so and I'll add more chapters...So ya that's it. TTFN


	2. Drive As If You Own the Car

Drive As If You Own the Car

Chapter 2

Author's note: Um…tada? K I was a little unprepared. I was going to make this a oneshot but then I got all these reviews saying they wanted more. So I'm flying by the seat of my pants here. Ireally didn't have much of a plot planned.

SO if anyone has any ideas feel free to send them to me. I could probably use the help. I won't be adding anybody like Liz or Tori or whoever. It get to hard to explain why the F they are there.

Also I based a character named Ms. Darlene off of my favorite cartoon characters of all time. I am curious to see if you can guess who it is. The show is from the late 90's and was on MTV and it was a cartoon. Super bonus points if you can guess it.

Disclaimer: I don't own the Darkest Powers series. If I did I would spend the rest of my life placing Chloe and Derek in awkward situations and laughing at them.

…

The halls were always uncomfortably loud in the mornings, subtly up and down the hall before turning the corner. Seeing the coast was clear I leaned casually beside Simon's locker, ignoring the uneasy looks I was receiving from my fellow students. Nothing out of the ordinary really.

A locker slammed near my head causing me to flinch. Turning I found myself face to face with my smirking brother.

"Whoa there," Simon raised his hands in mock surrender before reaching for his books. "A little jumpy this morning bro?"

I grunted but kept my eyes sharp on the roiling crowd of teenagers. I guess I got distracted because I dramatic cough brought my attention back to Simon. He seemed torn between amusement and exasperation.

"Derek," He punched me lightly on the arm, "she asked you to a school dance I doubt she's going to attack you in the hallways or something."

My cheeks warmed slightly at my own transparency but I managed a small smirk.

"You never know," I replied blandly starting a chuckle out of Simon.

As we made our way to class we picked up a few escorts who immediately began chatting with Simon. I didn't mind as it gave me more time to think.

Why was I so on edge? The girl didn't appear to have any ulterior motives and she wasn't declaring her undying love. She was just being nice.

Maybe that was it. I didn't have that much experience with girls beyond Simon's string of serial girlfriends and some of the female teachers I had over the years. All I really knew was that they smelled different from guys and seemed to spend an inordinate amount of time talking about shoes.

Not that any of them had really ever caught my attention. I had been too busy dealing with the weirdness in my life to focus on anything but Simon, Dad, and school. Not that my almost Transformations were making my life any easier. I was a roiling ball of hormones but in a different way than most guys my age. Hard to focus on dating when I could burst out in claws and fur at any moment. So yes, no girlfriend for Derek.

As we entered the classroom Simon's entourage separated, some to their own classes and some merely to their seats. I took my customary seat next to the window and Simon took the one beside me looking eerily pleased. It was starting to freak me out a bit so I turned to look out the open window.

The window was open a bit and the cool breeze was refreshing. Suddenly, and without warning, Chloe's face was flashed into my mind like a picture on a movie screen. Scowling I gave my head a small shake. Why did I even care? I probably wasn't even going to see her until the dance anyway.

"What's happening hotstuff?"

I jerked my head around to find myself face to face with a vaguely familiar girl. Instinctively my face stretched into a glare. Undeterred she merely grinned widely and wiggled her eyebrows in a disturbing manner.

From the corner of my eye I could see Simon trying to choke back his laugher by coughing into his fist. He was failing.

The girl turned around and stared expectantly at her companion. Much to my surprise I found the face that had been bothering me for the last twenty four hours. Sitting directly behind Simon sat Chloe Saunders. Her face was turning an unhealthy shade of red that stretched from her hairline to the collar of her sweater. Not that I noticed.

"S-s-sixteen Candles." She managed to stutter causing the other girl to nod approvingly.

The exchange was slightly confusing, looking to Simon he only shrugged. Another, slightly panicked, part of my brain attempted to grasp the situation. What was Chloe doing here? This was…creative writing.

Suddenly yesterday's conversation with Simon ran through my head and I cursed mentally. I really had to start paying more attention.

This was becoming a bad habit.

"Who are you?" I asked, in my usual tactful manner.

I saw Simon raise a hand to his forehead but ignored it. The girl was unaffected though.

"The name is Mattie Phayre," She stuck out her hand which I starred at for a minute. What was she expecting me to do?

"It's called a handshake," she annunciated slowly, like she was talking to a small child. "You grab my hand and move it in an up and down motion."

Scowling I grabbed the offending limb, gave it a quick jerk, then dropped it like a hot brick. She did the same with Simon who responded with an amused smile.

"Simon Hall and this is my brother…"

Mattie raised a hand to silence Simon. Smirking she put her chin in her hands and stared at me.

"Oh, I know all about you Derek Hall." She drawled, her unnerving stare sending shivers up my spine. "The mysterious new kid who asked out our precious Chloe. You have made quite the reputation for yourself sir."

Mattie raised an eyebrow and folded her hands like some sort of movie villain. She was clearly crazy.

Curiously I glanced at Chloe, wondering what her reaction to this whole thing was. Admittedly it was a little funny to find the blonde trying to bury her red face in her hands. Only a little though.

Fortunately I didn't have to respond as the teacher entered the room.

I knew better then to hope that Ms. Darlene would order Chloe and Mattie back to their original seats. Of all the teachers I have ever had, which is a lot, Ms. D seemed to be the least interested in her students or education as a whole.

She breezed into class the same way she did every morning. Looking us over as though she was confused as to why we were sitting there staring at her in the first place. When she finally realize we weren't going anywhere Ms. Darlene sighed, readjusted her large thick framed glasses, and ran a hand through her hair. This only served to mess the brown mass even worse but she didn't notice.

"Good morning, class," Ms. D said, maintaining her normal monotone.

"Good morning, Ms. Darlene." The class echoed back.

"I have a very exciting assignment for you today," I noticed the small sarcastic twitch of her lips when she said exciting. If there was one thing I liked about Ms. Darlene it was her dry sense of humor.

"For the past few weeks we have been working on plays," she continued, leaning against her desk. "I want you to form groups of four to write a short skit. It can be as long as you want and can be any media you choose. Nothing inappropriate though."

She turned her gaze towards some snickering boys in the back row.

"Don't make it something I can't show your mothers. You will have four days to complete this assignment. Use it wisely. They will be presented in class Friday morning. No excuses, no exceptions."

Immediately a hand shot up from about three rows back.

"Like, Ms. Darlene," the girl folded her arms, "you can't mean, like, this Friday. This Friday is Semi."

Again Ms. Darlene's lips twitched slightly and I knew Ms. D knew exactly what Friday was.

"Oh no," said Ms. D blithely."That is such a shame. Well it's too late to change it now so you will just have to survive with an hour and a half less time to prepare yourself for an antiquated ritual that will have little to no bearing on your future. You have my humblest of apologies. Any other question?"

No one else raised their hand.

"Alright then, get to it."

The second the words left her mouth I could almost feel my doom approaching. I mean I'm not one who believes in astrology or fortune telling or anything ridiculous like that but my wolf instincts usually told me when I was in danger and right now it was like a bright red flag was being raised in front of my eyes.

"Simon," a voice behind me almost purred. "Do you and Derek want to pair up with me and Chloe?"

I looked over at Simon and saw him peek nervously at Chloe. She in turn blushed and looked away. I felt a sharp pain in my side but quickly brushed it off. Clearly I had one too many pancakes this morning.

"What do you say bro?" Simon asked hopefully.

Looking at him I suppressed a sigh. The things I do for family.

"Whatever."

Suddenly Mattie was all business.

"Alright, Chloe any ideas?"

All eyes turned to Chloe causing her to blush and hide behind her bangs.

"I w-was thinking we could do a fractured fairy tale."

"That is a brilliant idea." Mattie gushed clapping her hands.

Simon and I shared a look. This was clearly some sort of drama/writing thing we were not knowledgeable about. Finally Simon raised his hand.

"A what?"

Chloe and Mattie both stared at us blankly. Finally Mattie sighed and rubbed her forehead.

"Please explain it to them Clo. They are starting to make my head hurt."

"Fractured fairy tales are traditional fairy tales, rearranged to create new plots with fundamentally different meanings or messages." Chloe explained.

"Alright, that sounds cool." Simon agreed. "Which one are we going to do?"

Again everyone turned to Chloe.

"Um, I was thinking Little R-red R-r-riding Hood." She fiddled nervously with her fingers.

"Ya, we could make the wolf the good guy and the woodsman the bad guy." Mattie was bouncing in her seat at this point. "It could be a romance slash social commentary on environmentalism. Totally wicked."

"You want the romantic lead to be a wolf?" I found myself asking. What's wrong with these people?

I immediately regretted saying anything because Chloe blushed in embarrassment and stared at her lap. In my mind my inner wolf was shaking its head.

'_You very bad mate,_' it echoed grimly.

Instantly I shoved him into the back of my mind. Coming back to my senses I found Mattie staring at me like I was an idiot.

"It would be an anthropomorphic wolf duh," she patted Chloe on the shoulder and was given a grateful smile in return.

Glancing up at the clock I noticed there was only about ten minutes left of class. Noticing my distraction Chloe followed my gaze then leaned over and whispered something in Mattie's ear.

Normally I would have caught it but the noise level in the room was too high.

"Me and Chloe will finish the script during study hall," said Mattie. "We can start working out the details tomorrow."

Simon nodded in agreement while I just shrugged. As long as I didn't have to do the writing it was fine with me. Hyperbole and metaphors were not my thing.

"Soooo," Mattie leaned closer and I could again sense my impending doom. "What are you guys wearing to Semi?"

"Dress pants, dress shirt, and a tie?" Simon rattled off uncertainly. "What about you Derek?"

Damn, I hadn't really thought about it.

"How about what I wore to the Cooper thing?" That was the nicest outfit I had.

"That was a funeral Derek," Simon sighed.

"Oh ew, you are not taking my little Chloe to a dance in funeral clothes," Mattie added with slight wrinkling of her nose.

This time Chloe let out and embarrassed "Mattie!"

Again Mattie sighed dramatically and my inner wolf began to snarl.

"I guess there is no helping it," She barely managed to hide her grin. "You two will just have to come with us when we go dress shopping tonight."

Ah, there it was, the sound of the other shoe falling.

Suddenly the bell rang, cutting off any retort Simon or I may have come up with. In a rush of movement Mattie had Chloe by the arm and was dragging her, protesting, towards the door.

"Meet us at my locker after school. We can head to the mall and look for something there."

With that they were gone. Leaving me and Simon to collect our belongings and follow.

"Do you feel like we just got played?" Simon asked slowly.

"You think?" I replied.

"Oh good," Simon grinned as he collected his books, "I thought it was just me."

…

The day passed slower than usual and it was getting irritating. Normally I blocked out the sounds and smells of the school unless I wanted a headache by the end of the day.

Today my body seemed to have a will of its own. I never really paid attention to anyone in particular at school save Simon and my teachers. Before yesterday I didn't even know Chloe Saunders existed but today it seemed she was everywhere.

I would be walking down the hall and catch her scent or sitting eating lunch and hear her laugh. At first I tried to ignore it. Eventually I realized that wasn't working so I decided to go with it.

If Simon was going to be dating this girl eventually then maybe I should get some information on her. Make sure she wasn't dangerous or something.

After careful observation and subtle sleuthing I found out the basics. She had moved to the school midway through the first year, she was more interested in writings scripts then acting, she was reasonably popular especially with the drama crowd, and she was rich as hell. Everyone I talked to, well Simon had talked I listened, seemed to say the same thing.

Nice girl, very shy, a little absent minded at times. Several guys mentioned an interest in dating her but also mentioned a fear of her slightly unhinged best friend. Apparently they were rarely seen apart.

By the end of the day I was starting to feel frustrated. I didn't know much more about Chloe then when I started.

I was considering hacking the school's mainframe and looking at her file when the final bell rang.

"Ready to go bro?"

For a second I just stared at Simon, confused. Then I remembered that we were supposed to meet Chloe and Mattie. Of course he would be on time when a girl he liked was involved.

Simon walked off towards Mattie's locker and I was forced to follow. God I didn't want to do this. I could be at home doing important things like studying, or organizing my sock drawer. Anything was better than going shopping.

Well, it seemed like I had no say in the matter because waiting patiently were Chloe and Mattie. Mattie started waving when she saw us, while Chloe blushed and ducked her head. She did that a lot.

"Alright boys and girls," Mattie clapped her hands together. "Are we ready and raring to go?"

Simon and Chloe nodded, while I grunted.

"Excellent. To the bus!"

Raising a hand dramatically Mattie marched off, leaving us to follow.

"We're taking the bus?" I leaned over to Chloe and asked.

She shook her head and smiled.

"No, we're taking her car but she likes to shout out random quotes." Chloe shrugged. "You get used to it."

I thought about this for a moment. It made sense in a strange way.

"Wait she has a car?"

Again Chloe shrugged.

"You'll see."

…

I am not easily shocked. One of my skills is my ability to adapt to most situations. Still I sat shocked as I stared at the black leather interior of the vehicle I was sitting in.

When I had seen the canary yellow car sitting in the parking lot I had never suspected it belonged to the obnoxious girl who so enjoyed harassing me. Very few teenagers I knew had a car to themselves, never mind a Camaro. I didn't know a lot about cars or about movies but even I recognized the iconic vehicle from that movie Simon had dragged me to.

At the sight of the car Simon had immediately called shotgun, leaving me and Chloe in the back seat.

"You okay?" A small voice asked.

I turned to see Chloe staring at me. A worried frown on her face.

"I'm fine." I grunted, folding my arms. She had to catch me staring like an idiot.

"It's a little overwhelming I know," Chloe continued. "Mattie doesn't like to brag about it but her family comes from old money. I think sometimes she feels worried that people will start to see her as a walking ATM instead of a person."

"Speaking from personal experience?" I said before I stop myself.

The slightly hurt look that flashed across her face made my stomach clench. Why did I say that? Why was I even sitting next to her? Wasn't Simon supposed to be flirting with her or something?

Up front Mattie was bopping along to the radio while Simon was fiddling with the many buttons on the dashboard. Neither seemed to feel the need to come to my rescue.

"I know what you mean though," I cleared my throat awkwardly. "It's like sometimes one part of your identity completely overshadows the rest. Then, that's all people can see about you so they don't bother to get to know the real you."

Mentally I was hitting myself. I should just shut up. I had done more than enough damage and now I was just making it worse. Chloe probably thought I was a complete idiot thanks to all my babbling.

Glancing over, I found to my surprise that she was smiling at me. Coughing awkwardly I turned and stared out the window. It was hot in the car and I didn't want her to think I was blushing or something. It was the heat.

We spent the rest of the ride in a comfortable silence.

Until we pulled into the mall parking lot. Mattie jerked hard on the wheel, sending the car skidding into an empty spot.

I grabbed the armrest and tried to stabilize myself while Chloe squealed beside me through clenched teeth. When we came to a stop I nearly threw myself from the car. Looking back I noticed Simon and Chloe doing the same.

Upon closer examination I noticed Chloe was paler than usual. Leaning against the car, she had a hand over her mouth.

My inner wolf snarled at me to go check on her. Why should I? I barely knew the girl and it wasn't my fault she was car sick. I fought my instincts for a second but eventually relented.

Before I could take a step Simon beat me too it. Almost immediately he was at Chloe's side. Carefully he put a hand on her shoulder and I could hear him asking if she was okay. Again I felt that sharp pancake-based pain in my stomach.

Suddenly all the hairs on the back of my neck stood on end. Something was watching me.

Looking around I met Mattie's gaze. She was giving me a glare that could strip paint. As though the whole situation was my fault.

All I could do in response was shrug. Simon was better at comforting people then I was. Simple as that.

Shaking her head Mattie walked over and muscled Simon out of the way. After several minutes of fretting from Mattie and many exclamations of "I'm fine" from Chloe we finally entered my second most hated place in the city.

The Mall.

…

There we go I hope it was okay. Thank you so much for everyone who reviewed. Reviews always make me smile no matter what time of day they come at.

So final notes if you have any ideas send them to me in a review and try to guess who Ms. Darlene is based off. If no one can guess I'll give another clue next chapter. TTFN and keep those reviews coming.


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